Move folder from Dropbox Backup to the cloud storage

Question

Hi, how can I move folder(s) from Dropbox Backup to the cloud storage root? There is not copy/move option. There is only a download button but in my case the folder that I need to get is about 300GB and it isn't possible to download since Dropbox Backup tries to compress the files before downloading them. As a result, it cannot compress the file due to its size and it bursts. Is there any other way to be able to use the files that are in the dropbox backup?

Than you

Thijs R · Answer

I have a similar use-case—let me explain.

My Mac’s ‘Desktop’ is one of the folders that Dropbox Backup covers.

I also have some ‘cloud only’ folders that I mainly use for long-term archiving and don’t need to be synced across devices.

The scenario here is me collecting some stuff in a folder on my desktop, which at some point I’d like to organize/archive in a cloud-only folder. Currently, it seems that I have two options for that:

1. Move the folder from Desktop to Dropbox in Finder, wait for it to be uploaded, and then use Dropbox on the web to move that folder to the appropriate cloud-only folder.

2. Open Dropbox on the web and upload the folder from my Desktop to the appropriate cloud-only folder directly.

I’m assuming in both cases this would essentially mean re-uploading stuff to Dropbox that was already there—but just in a separate area.

As a user, it would be way more convenient and a huge bandwidth saver if I could use Dropbox on the web to select files and folders in the Dropbox Backup area and move those to a cloud-only folder.

Hope this makes sense. ✌️

Jay · Answer

Hi @sbob, thanks for messaging the Community.

As the Dropbox Backup feature and the main Dropbox area are separate, it isn't possible to move files from one section to another.

Are you trying to move the main folders themselves, such as Desktop, Downloads and Documents, or subfolders within those folder?

This will help me to assist further!